Delaware, 2000

Heavy Snow and High Wind in Delaware, April 9, 2000

April 9, 2000 · NWS PHI · 5 events in 4 counties and zones

A strong cold front moved through Delaware during the early evening on the 8th. m.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
5

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS PHI wrote it up.

A strong cold front moved through Delaware during the early evening on the 8th. A strong secondary low formed on the frontal boundary overnight and by 8 a.m. EDT on the 9th was located near Worcester, Massachusetts. The intensifying low pressure system brought strong and gusty west to northwest winds into Delaware from the early morning of the 9th into the early evening the same day. It also ingested enough cold air to change the rain over to snow before it ended across the region during the morning of the 9th. The changeover was too brief and the precipitation too light for snow to accumulate across Kent and Sussex Counties. But in New Castle County, where the rain changed to snow by 4 a.m. EDT, accumulations averaged around 2 inches. Peak wind gusts averaged between 40 and 50 mph. The combination of the winds and the wet snow tore down tree limbs and caused some widely scattered outages, mainly in New Castle County. All power was restored by the middle of the afternoon on the 9th. Peak wind gusts included 48 mph at the New Castle County Airport, 38 mph in Dover and 36 mph in Georgetown. Snow accumulations included 2.5 inches in Newark, (New Castle County), 1.1 inches in Wilmington (New Castle County) and a Trace in Milford (Kent County).

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 high wind, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, New Castle

When
April 9, 2:30 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where
New Castle forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.578, -75.639 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Delaware Beaches

When
April 9, 4:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Delaware Beaches forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Inland Sussex

When
April 9, 4:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Inland Sussex forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
38.683, -75.339 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Kent

When
April 9, 4:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Kent forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
39.096, -75.505 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, New Castle

When
April 9, 4:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
New Castle forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
39.578, -75.639 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Delaware in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings in Delaware, April 2000

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5138002, 5138003, 5138004, 5138005, 5138006.